In another sign that Jennifer Lopez’s divorce from Ben Affleck could “get ugly” because they didn’t sign a prenuptial agreement, a new report describes how the “Argo” actor and director gave no fair warning to the supposed great love of his life that he was leaving her.
Instead, Affleck, 52, waited until his wife, 55, was on the East Coast in late April, filming a new movie, to move his things out of the $60 million Beverly Hills mansion they shared, People reported Tuesday.
“Ben began moving his things out of their shared home while Jennifer was in New York in April, effectively blindsiding her,” a source told People. When Lopez returned to Los Angeles in May, “he wouldn’t answer texts or calls.”
In the divorce petition Lopez filed Aug. 20 — the two-year anniversary of their lavish wedding at Affleck’s Georgia estate — she listed their official separation date as April 26. Lopez had been in the New York area in late April, filming “Kiss of the Spider Woman.”
By May, entertainment outlets reported that Affleck was living separately from his wife. They said he had taken up residence in a $100,000-a-month mansion in Los Angeles’ upscale Brentwood neighborhood, close to the home of his first wife, Jennifer Garner, and their three children, Violet, 18, Seraphina, 15 and Samuel, 12.
Affleck has since purchased a $20 million mansion, with a source telling People that he is “slowly” moving into his new home and “thinking about the future.”
But it looks like Affleck’s future could involve a messy split from Lopez, both People and TMZ are reporting. That’s because the couple didn’t sign a prenup before they married in 2022, first by eloping to Las Vegas and then by exchanging vows in a ceremony in Georgia.
“Everything they acquired over their roughly two-year marriage is community property, which means the assets acquired during the marriage are divided equally,” TMZ reported. But their community property is no “small sum,” People added.
For example, they bought the 12-bedroom, 24-bathroom Beverly Hills mansion for $60 million and are now trying to sell it for $68 million. But after the home has been on the market for more than a month, no serious buyers have come forward, TMZ reported.
Meanwhile, both Affleck and Lopez have reportedly made millions through films and endorsement deals, such as Affleck’s promotional work on behalf of Dunkin’ Donuts, People said.
Potentially more tricky is what to do about Affleck’s stake in Artists Equity, the production company he founded with his friend, Matt Damon, TMZ also reported. Affleck and Damon formed the company in November 2022 — four months after Affleck married Lopez. “So, it would seem that (Affleck’s) stake in the company is community property,” TMZ said, adding that Damon could get “dragged into the ugly divorce.”
Affleck and Lopez are currently in mediation with high-powered divorce attorney Laura Wasser, whose past clients include Kim Kardashian, Kevin Costner and Angelina Jolie, People reported. But a source also told People, “There are some sticking points over financials.”
Meanwhile, Affleck is dealing with another mess — his growing frustration with reports that he has been “spending time” with 36-year-old sometime actor, Kick Kennedy, the daughter of former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. A representative for Affleck has denied that he and Kennedy are romantically involved.
But as TMZ reported this week, the rumor “just won’t die.” Sources “with direct knowledge” told TMZ that Affleck finds the narrative that he’s dating — or is even friends with Kennedy — “ludicrous and crazy.” Last week, Affleck’s longtime publicist Jennifer Allen explicitly said, “There is no truth to any of it.”
And yet, People continued to report Tuesday that Affleck and Kennedy have been “spending time” together over the past several months: People magazine is usually pretty careful about how it reports on celebrity gossip, and almost always gives stars the benefit of the doubt.
Page Six first broke the news about Affleck’s potential connection to Kennedy, saying they had been seen hanging out at Hollywood hotspots. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail said they had “a brief fling” sometime after he and Garner finalized their divorce in 2018, while Page Six reported that they knew each other before he began a romance with Ana de Armas in early 2020 and quarantined with her during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sources told the Daily Mail that Affleck’s alleged association with Kennedy never overlapped with his romance with Lopez. And, as everyone knows, Affleck and Lopez began dating in the spring of 2021, nearly 20 years after they first dated from 2002 to 2004. They also almost tied the knot back then, but called off their wedding and ended their engagement, largely blaming their breakup on pressure from intense media scrutiny.